The scientists at ICMR-NIV, Pune have developed and validated the completely indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection for SARS-CoV-2. On external validation, the IgG test kit produced by ICMR-NIV, Pune has been found to have sensitivity and specificity of 98.7% and 100% respectively. ELISA test has the advantage of processing 90 samples together in a single run of two-and-a-half hours. Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at district level as the ELISA kit has inactivated virus.

The deaths of those with negative or inconclusive test results but with symptoms of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will be recorded as probable Covid-19 deaths, the Indian Council of Medical Research said in fresh guidelines on recording Covid-19 deaths released on 10 May, 2020.

This report prepared as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016, and published in Lancet , has found that every State in India has a higher burden from non-communicable diseases and injuries than from infectious diseases.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released the Handbook on Intellectual Property Rights & Technology Transfer which will help increase awareness among ICMR scientists to help them protect all new knowledge before publication.